


Adventures In Babysitting

by teamchasez



Category: Dale Earnhardt Jr - Fandom, NASCAR - Fandom, NASCAR RPF
Genre: F/M, Gen
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-09-17
Updated: 2018-09-17
Packaged: 2019-07-13 14:29:17
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 4
Words: 6,404
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/16019849
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/teamchasez/pseuds/teamchasez
Summary: What happens when Dale Earnhardt Jr accepts a bet with his wife that leaves him home with their sixteen month old daughter, Isabella?





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> This was written way back in 2010.

Part I

“Hon, where’s my jeans?” Dale Earnhardt Junior yelled to his wife from the bedroom closet as he shifted through the hangers.

“Don’t know, aren’t they hanging up?” Abigail called as she lifted their sixteen month old daughter, Isabella Kaitlyn out of the highchair and onto the dining room floor. 

“Ah,” Isabella whined, lifting her arms towards the highchair.

“No,” Abby shook her head as she lifted the tray from the chair and walked into the kitchen, tossing the remnants of her daughter’s toast and eggs into the garbage disposal. 

Isabella followed her mother into the kitchen, immediately forgetting about her breakfast and going to the cupboard. “Ooh…” she grinned, reaching in and grabbing a can of peaches.

“Baby, they aren’t here!” Dale yelled as he came down the stairs, dressed in a white polo shirt with the AMP logo over his heart and boxer shorts.

Abby quirked her eyebrow at her husband, looking him up and down. “You uh, going for a new look? I’m sure the ladies at the autograph signing will love it.”

“Ha ha, very funny,” Dale sighed. “I can’t find my jeans.”

“Baby, you have a million pairs of jeans hanging in the closet, grab one of those.”

“But they aren’t the ones that I want,” Dale whined, leaning down, placing a kiss on top of Isabella’s head. 

“Well I did laundry yesterday, maybe they are still in the dryer,” Abby told him as she washed the tray, putting it in the strainer to dry, before grabbing a wet wash cloth and moving back to the high chair to wipe the seat down.

Dale moved into the laundry room, pulling open the door. He frowned seeing the appliance empty. He sighed and shut the door, moving to walk from the room. Having a second thought, he turned back around and opened the lid to the washer. He groaned seeing the load of jeans in the drum.

“Abby….” He groaned.

“What?” Abby walked into the room, with Isabella following close behind.

“You didn’t throw the load into the dryer,” he reached in, grabbing the jeans and pulling them out. “They are still wet.”

“So put them in the dryer,” she rolled her eyes before walking from the room.

“I don’t have time to wait for them to dry, I’m already running behind,” he dropped the jeans back in the washer and left the room. 

“Then go pull on another pair of pants.”

“Those are my favorites,” he sighed. 

“Yes, Dale, I know, they show off your ass, I know that, you always tell me when you’re wearing them,” Abby rolled her eyes. “Did you even put them in the dryer?”

“No,” Dale said absentmindedly as Isabella handed him a fork. “Where did you get that?” he asked. 

“Da,” Isabella grinned. “Aw,” she moved forward, hands behind her back and laid her head against Dale’s leg, giving him one of her hugs.

“Thank you,” he grinned, putting a hand on her back, holding her against him.

“You had your hand on the clothes and you couldn’t put them in the dryer? Why not?”

“Where’d she get this?” He ignored the question, holding up the fork Isabella had brought him.

“I don’t know, probably from the drawer,” Abby turned around going into the laundry room where she moved the load of jeans into the dryer.

“She knows how to open the drawers?” Dale asked surprised.

“Only for about a month now, I’ve been trying to get you to put the child locks on them.”

“Why can’t you do it? You’re home all day,” Dale asked, immediately regretting the words as soon as they came out of his mouth, when he saw his wife’s green eyes flare.

“Why can’t I do it?” She repeated. “You really want to know what I do when I’m home all day. It’s not sit around on the computer all day or watch soap operas.”

“I know, hon. I’m sorry,” he held his hands up, not wanting to start a fight.

“I told you to put those on because I can’t line them up straight and they don’t latch and you have to drill into the doors.”

“I will baby,” Dale pulled her into his arms, kissing the top of her head. 

“Yeah,” Abby said, not believing him. She asked him at least twice a week to put the child locks on. She had gotten tired of asking him and tried it to do it herself, but when she put the sticky pads on them to get them lined up before putting the holes in the door, she couldn’t do it. She didn’t want to drill into the cupboards, only to have them not work and have to redrill. 

Dale pulled back, looking into his wife’s eyes. “I will.”

“I know,” Abby sighed, looking down seeing Isabella with her hand clenched. She heard a chomp and groaned. “What do you got?”

Isabella held her hand out and dropped the contents into Abby’s hand – dog food. 

“Spit it out,” Abby told her daughter, before reaching her finger into Isabella’s mouth, pulling out the broken dog food bit. “Stay out of the dog food,” she scolded her. 

“You don’t want to eat the yucky stuff,” Dale swung Isabella up into his arms, causing her to giggle. “Can I have a hug?” He asked, smiling when she laid her head on his shoulder and patted his back. “Thank you,” he said when she pulled back and opened her mouth to lean forward. “A kiss too!” He grinned before puckering his lips and kissing his daughter.

“Can you iron that one button up shirt today?” Dale asked walking into the living room where his wife was. “You know the one, it—”

“Brings out your eyes, I know.” Abby rolled her eyes. 

“My brown coat is at the dry cleaners, can you pick that up today? I want to wear it to a trackside Friday night,” he sat Isabella down on the floor. “Oh I kinda told Kelley that you’d stop over at the shop today and help her with the fan club picnic.”

“You what!” Abby stared at her husband. “What possessed you to do that?”

“Well, she needs help and I know you have ideas,” Dale started, feeling like he was about to get yelled at. “I figured you could go over there since you’re not doing…” he closed his mouth when Abby held up a finger.

“Not doing anything!” Abby yelled. “Do you know what I do?”

“No, but I have a feeling I’m about to find out…” 

Abby widened her eyes. “You think you can do this?”

“What? Playing with Bella all day? Sure, piece of cake. I’d give up a day to sit around the house and do nothing.”

“Fine,” Abby shook her head. “Tomorrow, you are staying home and babysitting your daughter. I bet you’ll be begging for mercy by the time I get home.”

“Alright,” Dale shrugged. It would be a change from his daily schedule. He would be able to sleep in and then just sit around all day. 

“You’re gonna do everything I do,” Abby told him. “The dishes, the laundry, the cleaning, grocery shopping, everything all while you are watching Isabella.”

“Fine by me,” Dale told her. “What are you going to be doing?”

“I’m gonna take a relaxing day by myself, get my hair done, pedicure, manicure, maybe go shopping. I don’t know, yet. I’ll figure it out tomorrow.”

“What’s the bet?” Dale asked accepting the challenge.

“If I win, and I will, you’re taking me out,” she saw Dale start to smile. “I pick the movie, and you’re dressing up.”

“How dressed up?” Dale’s smile faded.

“You’re wearing a tie,” Abby smirked.

“Oh well, won’t matter because I’ll win,” Dale grinned. “And if I win, baby, and you know I will, you know what I’m gonna do,” he watched her features wrinkle in confusion while she thought. When her eyes widened he nodded his head. “Oh yeah…”

“No,” Abby shook her head. “Absolutely not.”

“Come on Abs,” Dale laughed. “You afraid you’re gonna lose?”

“No,” Abby crossed her arms. 

“So what do you say, we have a bet?” He asked holding out his hand.

“Yes,” Abby shook his hand, while he grinned. “Better start picking out a suit and tie and getting reservations.”

“While you’re shopping tomorrow, you’d better pick out some sexy lingerie,” Dale laughed walking back up the stairs. “Oh and when you’re at the shop today, pick a chassis…”


	2. Chapter 2

Part II

“Ah, ma ma ma…”

Dale groaned and rolled over; burrowing his head into is pillow. He heard Isabella crying from her room and drew his covers tighter around him. “Abs, Isabella’s awake…” he mumbled. He waited for a few minutes but the other side of the bed remained still. “Abs? Did you hear me?”

He rolled over and blinked his eyes a few times, noticing the empty half. Figuring his wife was already going into the Isabella’s room, he closed his eyes falling back asleep.

“Ahhhh….ma ma ma ma…a da….”

Dale’s eyes shot opening hearing the louder scream. He looked at the clock and groaned seeing the early hour. He tossed the covers back and sat up, rubbing his eyes. He glanced down next to his cell phone seeing a piece of paper. Picking it up, he noticed his wife’s handwriting. 

Dale – Good luck today. Anytime you want to quit, call me. Love Abs

He chuckled letting the paper fall back onto the table before pushing himself off the bed and walking into the hallway. He noticed Tux rolling around outside Isabella’s room, pushing his paws underneath the door. When he saw Dale coming towards them, he meowed. 

“Yeah yeah yeah, I hear her,” he muttered, wondering if the cat didn’t wake her up. Opening the door, he first noticed the pile of blankets lying on the floor by the crib, with the four stuffed animals that Abby left in the crib, on top of them. 

“What did you do?” He asked looking at his daughter back to the mess on the ground.

“Uh oh…” Isabella said, looking over the railing down to the floor. “Eh…” she reached her hand out.

“Uh oh is right….” He walked into the room and leaned down, picking up the blankets. He handed Isabella the soft fleece pink blanket with butterflies on one side. It was her favorite. Abby had to sneak it away from her when she wasn’t watching to wash it. 

“Ah,” Isabella clutched the blanket in her small arms, laying her head on it. 

“Alright,” he stretched after getting the stuffed animals back in their proper corners of the crib and reached out his hands. “Diaper time.”

“Uhh,” Isabella turned her head away, smiling she walked to the corner of the crib, fingering the buttons on her mobile, turning the jungle themed toy on.

“Come here,” Dale asked again, holding his hands out. He sighed when Isabella once again shook her head no. “Alright you,” he reached over the crib and picked her up. He held her with one arm underneath her butt and the other one was held in the air, wiggling his fingers. “I’m gonna get you,” he grinned.

Isabella giggled and kicked her legs when Dale’s fingers tickled her belly, running up to her shoulders.

He laughed at his daughter’s laughter and laid her down on the changing table, quickly changing her diaper. Leaving her pajamas on, he grabbed her blanket and left the room.

“You hungry?” He asked walking into the kitchen where he sat her down on the floor. He laughed when she made a clucking sound with her tongue. “I guess so…” 

After letting Killer and Stroker out the back door, he filled a sippy cup of milk twisting the cap on. Turning around to hand it to Isabella, he noticed her missing from the kitchen.

“Bella?” He called out, walking from the kitchen. He heard a thump and he rounded the corner looking at the stairs. Isabella was three stairs up, looking over her shoulder. When she saw Dale come into view she laughed and turned around, quickly maneuvering her small frame up the steps.

“Come ‘ere you,” Dale wrapped an arm around her waist, pulling her from the stairs. “Just what do you think you were doing?” He sat her back down on the ground and handed her the sippy cup. Turning back around, he made sure to put the gate across the stairs this time. 

“Let’s get something to eat, Bella,” he moved back into the kitchen, wondering what to eat. Putting toast in the toaster, he grabbed the cheerios pouring some on the high chair tray. Once the toast was done, he buttered it, broke it in half and placed it on the tray as well. Reaching down he picked his daughter up, placing her in the chair. 

Going back to the kitchen, he placed toast in the toaster for himself and poured a glass of orange juice. Closing the door, he noticed another note placed underneath a magnet. Rolling his eyes, he pulled off and looked at it.

Don’t forget to go grocery shopping! I can see you in that tie already! Love ya hon.

Dale shook his head, throwing the note away he walked back into the dining room, stopping when he saw his daughter standing up in the chair. “Sit down!” he scolded, putting his breakfast on the table, he went to her, helping her sit back down in the chair. “No.”

He sighed hearing the scratching at the back door, he quickly let the dogs back in before finally sitting down to eat his breakfast.

After breakfast, he cleaned up the high chair, leaving the dishes in the sink. Sitting Isabella down in the living room, he sat on the couch, laying his head against the back. He knew he shouldn’t have stayed up late playing his online racing game, but he figured Abby would at least wait until he was up before going out.

“A da!” Isabella brought the wooden puzzle back down on Dale’s lap. “A da?”

Dale opened his eyes, seeing the farm puzzle game that had been one of her Christmas presents. “Whacha got?”

“A da,” Isabella said pointing down to the empty horse shape. “A da?” She brought her arms up in an, ‘I don’t know’ motion.

“Where is it?” Dale asked, holding the toy better on his lap. “It’s in your box, go get it,” he told her, watching her look at him. “Where is it?” he asked again, pointing to the horse.

“Ohh…” Isabella turned around, bending slightly at the knees with her hands behind her back, she looked around the room.

“In your toy box,” Dale chuckled, pointing to the box containing all her toys. He watched his daughter run over to the box and begin to dig through it. While waiting for her to bring the toy back, he grabbed the remote, flipping through the channels, settling on Sportscenter. 

“Eh,” Isabella yelled as she ran back to her daddy. She threw the pieces she had gathered on her father’s lap, reaching for the remote. “Eh…”

“I take it you don’t like this?” Dale asked, pulling up the guide, searching for shows. Finding noggin, he turned the television over to the kids’ channel. 

He laughed seeing Isabella’s face light up when the show ended and a five minute shot came on. She started swaying side to side. When she noticed Dale looking at her, she shrieked and started bouncing on her feet, shaking her butt.

“Your Momma teach you that?”

Isabella stopped dancing to look at Dale. She reached down and gripped the bottom of her princess pajama top and pulled it up, showing her belly.

“I’m gonna get that belly,” he said pushing himself off the couch, his hands in front of his wiggling his fingers. He laughed as his daughter shrieked and took off running. He grinned and fell back against the couch. “I can’t believe your Momma was complaining about this.”

**

“No no no no!” Dale groaned walking into the kitchen seeing refrigerator door open. He moved around the island and closed his eyes seeing the mess on the floor. Isabella had gotten quiet and he finally went in search of her, finding her in the kitchen where she had gotten into the fridge.

“Uh oh…” Isabella said looking at her father from where she was standing in the puddle of fruit punch. 

Dale closed his eyes and took a deep breath. Opening them he saw the mess still on the floor and his daughter was now stomping her feet, splashing in the liquid. “Isabella, no!” 

Isabella froze and stared at Dale in shock. Her bottom lip jutted out and started quivering. She started crying.

Dale sighed, instantly feeling bad that he yelled at her. “Come here, princess,” he held his arms out, grabbing her from the floor. “It’s okay, shhh…” he whispered, rubbing her back. “Daddy’s sorry. Come on; let’s get those feet cleaned up.” He moved to the sink where he sat Isabella on the edge, letting her feet hang in. Turning the knobs the water began to flow and he adjusted the temperature. Grabbing the hose, he sprayed Isabella’s feet, washing the sticky punch off. 

After Isabella was cleaned up, he put her back on the floor. “Go get your toys,” he told her, giving her a small push in the direction of the living room. He watched her run from the room before turning back around to tend to the mess on the kitchen floor. Wiping it up, he sighed; feeling the stickiness linoleum. Muttering he went into the laundry room grabbing the mop and the mop bucket and started mopping the floor.

“Whoa dude, I didn’t think you’d turn all domestic on your day off,” Martin Truex Junior said as he walked into the kitchen seeing Dale.

“Shut up, Hoss,” Dale flipped it off as he went around the island. After he mopped up the sticky mess, he decided that he might as well do the whole kitchen. He figured it might give him extra points with Abby. It’s not like she told him he had to mop.

“How’s the bet going? You ready to wave the flag?” Martin grabbed a beer from the fridge and slid into the bar stool watching Dale. “You missed it spot.”

“You wanna do it?” Dale stopped pushing out the handle toward Martin.

“Nope, I have a firm grasp of my balls unlike you.”

“That’s debatable,” Dale smirked as he rung the mop out and finished the last part of the kitchen. When he was done, he smiled seeing the clean floor. ‘This stuff is easy,’ he thought.

“You wouldn’t find my ass mopping and playing housewife,” Martin grinned.

“Wouldn’t find your ass doing anything less Sherry tells you to,” Dale called as he dumped the mop bucket into the toilet. He quickly cleaned up the bucket and mop before putting them back in the laundry room. 

“Hey, I wear the pants in my relationship!”

“Sherry picks them out though, dude,” he laughed walking back into the kitchen grabbing an AMP from the fridge. “Face it, she owns you.”

“No she—” Martin broke off seeing Isabella run into the kitchen, diaperless. “Uh, Dale…” he pointed to the little girl, a smirk growing on his features. 

“Fuck…” Dale groaned, sitting his can down and looked at his daughter. “Are you kidding me?” He said seeing his naked daughter. “Where are your clothes?”

“Ah,” Isabella said, waving her arm next to her face. She hadn’t gotten the concept of waving her hand in front her nose when something stinks, but it was the closest thing. 

“I’d check the back door before you pick her up,” Martin chuckled standing up. “Looks like you’re busy. I’ll see you later, Hoss. Let me know where you go for dinner!”

“Fuck you,” Dale yelled as Martin left the kitchen. He looked down at his daughter and sighed. “Oh baby…” he took her hand and carefully walked with her into the living room. “Oh no….” He stared in shock at the wall seeing the smears over it. “What did you do?”

“Ah,” Isabella said, repeating the same movement.

“Yeah I know,” Dale sighed and maneuvered Isabella towards the stairs. “Come on,” he said as they climbed the stairs together. “Let’s get you cleaned up.” 

He went into Isabella’s room, laying her on the changing table and quickly cleaned her up, putting on a fresh diaper. He grabbed a pair of jeans and a t-shirt and dressed her. Picking her up, he carried her downstairs. Sitting her on the couch he got to work cleaning up the diaper and the mess. When he was done he scrunched his face at the smell that seemed to linger in the living room. Turning around her noticed that Isabella had moved from the couch and didn’t see her in the room.

“Isabella?” He called as he walked into the kitchen, tossing the diaper and paper towels into the trash. He grabbed the air freshener and sprayed the living room. “Isabella?” He stopped and listened hearing the sound of running feet coming above him. “Damnit,” he sighed and took off to the stairs. He jogged up them coming to a stop at his daughter’s room. “Isabella, no!” He yelled watching as she emptied out one of her dresser drawers. 

Isabella dropped the clothes and ran to the corner of the room, watching as Dale came into the bedroom and put the clothes away, not bothering to fold them.

“Bad,” he pointed his finger at her and picked her up, walking back downstairs. “Now stay down here.” He sat her down and grabbed the gate and put it across the stairs. Looking at the clock he sighed. ‘Where has the morning gone?’ He wondered. “You hungry?”

Isabella smacked her tongue and ran into the kitchen.

“I take that as a yes.”


	3. Chapter 3

PART III

“Finally,” Dale sighed and fell onto the couch, an arm thrown over his eyes. Lunch was thankfully over and Isabella was finally down for her nap. While he had been fixing lunch, Isabella had decided to pull the DVDs out of the stand all over the floor. When he had them picked up and returned to their place, he had switched the loads of laundry over and sat the basket that needed to be folded on the couch. Coming into the living room to get her, he wanted to scream seeing the clothes strewn over the floor.

Getting her settled down to eat had been a chore. Getting her to eat her food and not drop any on the floor to feed Killer and Stroker was next to impossible. But after she had ate, he cleaned her up, and took her upstairs; where she had insisted on crying while he rocked her, fighting sleep. After getting her to sleep, he was ready for a nap of his own.

Deciding that the laundry could wait, as could Abby’s to-do list, he shifted on the couch, getting more comfortable and closed his eyes a smile on his features knowing the day was almost over and even though he was tired and worn out, he was going to win the bet.

**

Abby opened the front door walking into her house, hearing the quiet. Frowning at the time, knowing that Isabella should have been up for her nap hours ago, she went in search of her daughter and husband. She groaned out loud seeing the living room in disarray. Sometime during the day, Isabella had dumped her toy box and drug out every toy all over the floor. Mixed in with the toys were clothes from the half empty laundry basket that sat on the couch.

Making her way into the kitchen she saw the high chair covered in remnants of warmed up spaghetti. The sauce had dried to the tray and on the plastic seat cover. She looked at the floor seeing it was clean, but she knew she had a couple off canines to thank for that. The juice from the peaches still laid in one of the compartments in the tray.

“That dinner is a good as mine,” she grinned triumphantly, leaving the kitchen and the mess behind.

Wondering if he had done anything that she had wrote down on the list, she went into the laundry room to make sure laundry was finished. By the clothes in the living room, she knew he started it at least. The stench stopped her at the door. Staggering back a step, she took a deep breath and held it before walking into the room. Seeing the sheets on the floor she gingerly fingers them; they were from Isabella’s crib. Judging by the smell, she amassed that there was a combination of vomit and diarrhea inside the fabric.

Abby frowned as she realized that Isabella was sick and wondered why Dale didn’t call her immediately. She could have come straight home. Knowing the reason why the house was a mess, the victory didn’t seem as sweet. There was a good reason why. Heading up the stairs she peeked in Isabella’s room, seeing the crib stripped and the curtains ruffling in the wind from the open window. The room was empty. 

Going into her bedroom, seeing the unmade bed didn’t faze her. Stroker and Killer were sleeping on the floor in front of the bathroom door. When they saw her, they both lifted their heads; their short tail stubs wagging. She absently petted them as she went to the bathroom. Pushing the door open she stopping in the door way seeing Dale merged in the water, holding Isabella on his chest. His eyes lifted to meet hers.

“Hey,” she said softly walking into the bathroom, kneeling down next to the tub. “Why didn’t you call me?” She reached over feeling her daughter’s skin and the heat from the fever radiating off of it.

“And lose?” Dale whispered, shaking his head. “I don’t think so,” he hadn’t been sleeping very long when he heard the first cries from Isabella’s room. Thinking she’d cry herself back to sleep, he let her go. When the screams worsened and she started coughing, he jumped up from the couch and sprinted to her room. The moment he opened the door his breath stopped; seeing his daughter throwing up and covered in diarrhea.

“This is more important, Dale,” Abby brushed Isabella’s auburn locks from her forehead. “Did you take her temperature?”

“One oh two,” Dale said, shifting the water. “Shhh…” he kissed the side of Isabella’s head when she started whimpering. “I gave her Tylenol and was going to give her a bath to try and break it, but she just cried and cried. I got in with her and she settled down.”

Abby sat next to the tub, rubbing her daughter’s back, wishing there was something she could do to take the pain away. Deciding to leave them alone she left the bathroom, heading downstairs and into the laundry room where she took care of the soiled sheets. Once the load was started, she went into the kitchen, where she cleaned up the high chair. She heard the tub start draining as she walked into the living room and tackled the laundry. After the basket was folded she went around picking up the forgotten toys putting them back in their box.

Taking the folded laundry she walked upstairs and into Isabella’s room where Dale was putting a diaper on Isabella. She grabbed the folded shirts and opened the drawer in Isabella’s dresser and bit back a groan seeing the drawer is disarray. Keeping the comments to herself, she straightened the drawer and finished putting Isabella’s clothes away before moving to her bedroom.

Dale grabbed another blanket from under the changing table. It wasn’t Isabella’s favorite but it would have to do. He wrapped her up, walking from the room. He was going to sit in the chair and rock her, but the stink was still lingering in the room. He went into his bedroom and climbed on the bed, swinging his feet up. He lay back against the pillows, getting comfortable. “Shh…hush little baby, don’t say a word…” he sang softly, watching Abby put the laundry away.

“Do you need anything?” Abby asked softly moving toward the bed. When Dale shook his head, she leaned down kissing him softly. “I’ll check on you in a few minutes, okay?”

A few hours later, Abby made her way up the steps after locking up. Dale hadn’t returned downstairs, and when she had gone up to check on Isabella, she found them both sleeping and left them be. She used the quiet time to come up with a plan for dinner with Dale with the help from Kelley. She crawled beneath the covers once she changed into pajamas and snuggled closer to Dale. She felt the sweat on Isabella and gave a sigh of relief that the fever had broken. She closed her eyes a smile on her face as she couldn’t wait to see Dale’s reaction once he realized what she did.


	4. Chapter 4

PART IV

Abby applied the finished touches of make up before gathering up the tubes and brushes, putting them back in the make up case. She grabbed the Eau de Toilette Butterfly Flower fragrance and dabbed it on her pulse points; smiling at the garden orchid scent that filled the bathroom. Stepping from the room she glanced at herself in the full length mirror, smoothing the wrinkles in the dress over her stomach and bent her knee and turned to the side. She loved at the simple black dress hugged her curves and pushed up her breasts, giving her more cleavage than she actually had. She knew that Dale would enjoy that. She picked up the black stiletto heels and grabbed her black clutch purse before making her way downstairs.

“Don’t sit down!” Abby called stepping into the living room, seeing Dale slouched on the couch, flipping through the channels. “You’re gonna wrinkle your suit!”

“Abby,” Dale sighed and turned off the television standing up. He turned around to face his wife and felt his jaw open as he took in her appearance. “Wow…” was all he managed to get out before he took a step forward.

“You like?” Abby grinned at the reaction she had been hoping to have. She did a small circle in front of him. “I found it shopping with Kelley. It’s gorgeous.” 

“Absolutely beautiful,” Dale placed his hands on her hips pulling her against him as he leaned down and kissed her softly. “Do we have to go out?” He said as he pulled back, pulling at his tie. “Kelley is watching Bella for the night; we could go back upstairs and get an early start on the night.”

Abby smiled at the idea, “I don’t think so,” she shook her head. “You owe me dinner in a tie,” she reached out straightening the tie. “Stop messing with it.”

“You know, you really didn’t win,” Dale said as he grabbed the jacket from the back of the chair slipping it on. 

“I did so,” Abby grinned. “You couldn’t handle my job for a day…”

“She was sick,” Dale countered. “It wasn’t fair.”

“You still lost,” Abby grinned, sitting down at the chair slipping her heels on.

“Are those…” Dale glanced down at her feet seeing the heels. “Baby, you know I love those shoes… can we just go upstairs? We’ll order pizza and sit at the table in these clothes and then take the celebration upstairs.”

“I don’t think so,” Abby stood up, grabbing her purse. She tucked her hand through Dale’s arms and smiled at him. “We’re going out to dinner. We need to hurry so we don’t miss our reservations.”

Dale sighed as he tucked his wallet into is back pocket. He grabbed his keys from the counter and walked his wife from the house to the waiting Silverado. Once he helped her into the truck, he closed the door walking around the front. It wasn’t like he didn’t want to go to dinner with his wife. He didn’t want to wear a suit, much less a tie. He hated the things. He knew Abby had wormed her way into getting the dinner. He never lost the bet and he would have cleaned up the house once he got Isabella calmed down. He didn’t ask Abby to do it. 

“Tonight won’t be that bad,” Abby said when Dale climbed into the truck. “I promise,” she reached across the center, taking his hand giving it a squeeze as he started the truck. She looked out the window as he pulled away from the house, smiling as she couldn’t wait for dinner to be over with. It didn’t matter if they went to dinner or not, she just wanted to put her husband in a tie knowing how much he hated them. She would have much rather taken him up on his offer of ordering pizza and locking themselves in their room. It wasn’t very often they didn’t have Isabella.

**

“See, you survived,” Abby smiled as they pulled on the Interstate, heading back from Charlotte. They had a nice evening at Maggiano’s, a nice Italian restaurant in upscale Charlotte. During their meal, they shared a bottle of wine and danced to the band that entertained the dinning room. It felt nice to be wrapped in her husband’s arms, swaying to the music. She had his undivided attention. The sweet words he whispered in her ear as he held her against made her body tingle down to her toes.

“Just don’t think you’re getting me to do this again anytime soon,” Dale glanced at her out of the corner of his eye. He smiled softly at her profile. He’d never admit it to her, but he had enjoyed the night; being able to talk with his wife without the interruption of a crying toddler or ringing phones. The restaurant staff had kept everyone away and they hadn’t been interrupted once. Holding her on the dance floor he had realized that the last time they had really danced like that was their wedding reception. And he immediately felt like an ass. She deserved to be taken out on the town and wined and dined.

He groaned hearing his phone ring and looked at the caller Id seeing his sister’s name, he answered thinking something might be wrong with Isabella. “Hello? Kel… Are you kidding me? No… Damnit Kelley…yeah…I’ll do it. Yeah I know. I love you too.” He sighed and tossed his phone into the cup holder.

“What’s wrong?” Abby asked innocently.

“Kelley needs me to stop by the shop and sign some papers that she needs. Saying it has to be done tonight so when she gets in, she can send them in the mail. Says I won’t be up early enough to do it in the morning,” he glanced at Abby and sighed. “I’m sorry, Hon. I’ll be fast and we’ll go straight home.”

“Its okay, Dale,” Abby smiled. “I understand.”

Dale pulled into the parking lot of JR Motorsports, pulling all the way to the front of the building, parking along the curb. He put the truck in park and turned toward Abby. “I’ll be right back,” he kissed her quickly before getting out of the truck, heading into the building.

Abby waited a few minutes before she shut the truck off and crawled out of the truck and made her way into the shop. She moved through the darkened hallways, lit only by the security lights. She entered the bay and bypassed the 88 shop cars making her way to the 83. She grinned seeing the car and looked in the window seeing a bottle of wine with a card. She grabbed the card and opened it. 

“The cameras are all disabled. Don’t worry about anyone seeing Dale’s ass. He should be bringing the wine glasses down any minute. I’m dropping Isabella off at Mom’s tomorrow so don’t worry about getting up early. You guys deserve this. Love Kelley.”

Abby heard the bay door open and she looked over catching Dale walk into the shop holding two wine glasses in his hand. She pulled the bottle of wine from the car and smiled at him as he reached her.

“What are you and my sister up to?” Dale questioned, raising his eyebrows at the wine and the glasses. “I didn’t find the papers on my desk, but the wine glasses with a note to come down here.”

“Well I know how much you wanted to do this,” Abby started. “And since you technically didn’t lose the bet…” she held up a finger, placing it on his lips, stopping him from talking. “You didn’t win either. So I declared a tie and came up with going to dinner and coming back here to celebrate,” she watched him take in what she was talking about. “I know you probably wanted to use your Cup car, but I didn’t think it would be right for me to ask Rick that I needed him to turn off his security cameras because we were going to fuck on your car. So I talked with Kelley.”

“You… are you serious?” Dale questioned, not believing that his wife was agreeing to this. It had been a joke between them since they had gotten together. He always tried to get her to have sex in and on his race car, but she always turned him down. He couldn’t believe she was finally agreeing. 

“The security cameras are off,” Abby questioned, stepping closer. “The guys request that we don’t leave any underwear behind, unless they’re mine.”

Dale chuckled sitting the wine glasses on the floor and reached for the wine bottle, doing the same. He pulled Abby to him, “I will not let them find your underwear,” he leaned down kissing her softly.

“They won’t,” Abby assured him. “Because I’m not wearing any.”

Dale groaned and stared at Abby in shock. “You haven’t had any on all night?”

“Nope, figured it was pointless to wear any, I knew they’d be on the floor tonight,” Abby shrugged, kissing Dale’s lips. “Now,” she reached down grabbing the wine glasses. “Pop that cork and let’s get this party started.”

“Yes Ma’am!”


End file.
